Paul Thomas Anderson is writing a new movie, and it almost certainly isn’t anything you’re expecting. This isn’t a film of his own, but a for-hire gig working with the guy who nearly starred in Inherent Vice. Anderson will write a new draft of Pinocchio, the live-action film Robert Downey Jr. is pulling together based on the classic story of a wooden puppet who dreams of being a real boy. In addition, there’s a chance Anderson will end up directing as well. Get the details on the potential Paul Thomas Anderson Pinocchio project, below. Read More »

Briefly:Timur Bekmambetov now has a project to possibly follow up Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. He has just been attached to direct The Current War, which isn’t about a war taking place now, but rather about a battle over electricity. Specifically, Michael Mitnick‘s spec script is about “the competition between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse to create the first sustainable electrical current.”

That’s potentially a great story, though I wonder how Bekmambetov, whose work isn’t exactly closely indebted to truth and history, will make the movie. Steven Zaillian is producing, as is Bekmambetov. There is no cast yet, though Sacha Baron Cohen was reportedly interested in playing Edison at one point. Now that the top-level team is set, we’ll see whether or not he gets an offer. [Variety]

You can almost hear the rhythmic chants of “Toga, Toga, Toga” bellowing in the rafters already. The New York Times reports John Landis’ landmark 1978 comedy, Animal House, is being adapted into a Broadway musical with help from Canadian rockers Barenaked Ladies and Book of Mormon co-director Casey Nicholaw. Universal Pictures Stage Productions announced the production on the 30th anniversary of the death of the film’s star John Belushi. Read more after the break. Read More »

Each December since 2004, studio executive Franklin Leonard has compiled the best unproduced screenplays of the year, as voted by hundreds of execs, agency guys, and high-level assistants. Titled The Black List, the compendium highlights both established screenwriters and up-and-comers, and has served as a launching pad in the past for projects like Juno, Lars and the Real Girl, and (500) Days of Summer. Last year’s list included Margin Call, Crazy, Stupid, Love, The Hunger Games, and Snow White and the Huntsman.

It should be noted that the headline is somewhat misleading — some of these screenplays have already been acquired and are already in development, though according to Leonard none will have entered principal photography by December 31, 2011. Also worth pointing out is that, as in previous years, there have been rumors that some of the participants have been accused of using the Black List to promote their own clients or friends. Finally, as Leonard reminds us each time, “The Black List is not a ‘best of’ list. It is, at best, a ‘most liked’ list.”

Regardless, we can always rely on the Black List to stir up conversation among both industry insiders and outside spectators alike, so without further ado, hit the jump for the complete 2011 list.